City of Palms: Day Two Rundown

Dave Telep

12/20/2008

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Austin Rivers and his Winter Park teammates turned in a complete game effort in a win over Duncanville. In the nightcap, Lance Stephenson was a beast as he dropped 37 points and Kenny Boynton rebounded with 43.

Lance Stephenson, SF, Lincoln – Neither travel problems, bad weather nor Briarcrest could derail the train Friday night. This was one of his better well-rounded performances as he finished with 37 points on 15-for-26 from the field without making a single trifecta. As Lance ascends levels, his comfort in the post will become a huge asset and edge. He's a straight up beast when he elects to go that route. Stephenson was 10-for-12 from short range and they were punishing hoops.

Kenny Boynton, SG, American Heritage – His rebound game was predictable: 43 points, 7-for-11 from downtown. Midway through the second half, Boynton hit a deep jumper and it went from being a competitive game to a blowout.

Leslie McDonald, SG, Briarcrest – Give him credit, his first half defensive effort against Stephenson was honest and effective. He's not physically equipped – neither is any other wing – to guard Stephenson and entire game. McDonald made his jumpers in the second half to rally for 24 points.

Johnny Williams, C, Briarcrest – He won his matchup with James Padgett by being the aggressor on offense and active on the glass. Williams was strong with 19 points and 12 rebounds; Padgett was limited to four points and four boards. The difference in Williams was his face-up game. He stuck mid-range jump shots and was a threat in the paint. George Mason has to be thrilled with this effort.

Wally Judge, PF, ACD – Until the final quarter of his second game in as many days, Judge hadn't looked comfortable. When needed he came up with some key blocks, tough boards and launched himself at the rim. Rallied and finished with 13 and seven.

Rodney McGruder, SF, ACD – Good team have players like McGruder. He's the dirty work guy who chips in a lot of areas. 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6-for-7 from the line. He turned it over seven times but that's not an area he usually struggles in so he gets the pass. In college, this is a kid who will find his role and quickly be accepted by his teammates.

David Wear, PF, Mater Dei – He set up shop on the left block and showed off something he must have been working on: a lefty hook. He liked the shot so much he went 3-for-3 with it in the first half. David finished 6-for-10 with 14 points. Can you guess how his brother played? That's right, 6-for-10 with 14 points. Travis had 7 boards, David topped him with 10.

Noel Johnson, SG, Fayette – Facing one of the best teams in the country and needing a big game to even keep it respectable, Johnson couldn't get on track. Mater Dei's armada of D-I prospects held him to 1-for-11 and 0-for-6 in the first half. Johnson entered the final period of a blowout with 4 points and finished with 18 points. Playing those guys without much help isn't very fair.

Austin Rivers, G, Winter Park – Great players bring their teammates along for the ride and Rivers is looking like a special one. The coolest – and best – player on the floor instills confidence in his teammates and exudes it personally. Winter Park got up on Duncanville and knew what to do from there. Rivers didn't need to score every point, he trusted his well-coached teammates and finished it off with 26 points on 9-for-16 from the floor. He was a maestro and his game is so advanced that forget he's in the 10th grade. Lest we forget to mention that he limited Shawn Williams on the defensive side and guarded him hard each possession.

Darius Perkins, SG, Dunbar – Yesterday his shot selection was questionable, today it was a different story as he was more economical with his chances. Perkins hit for 23 in the blowout loss. Offensively, he can get his shot behind or inside the arc and he's a legit scoring threat. He turned it over 5 times today so that's' a concern. To his credit, he toned down his shots and used his teammates more. He'll be a 6-foot-1 scoring guard who draws comparisons to Toney Douglas.

Apparently Mater Dei thought this was a football tournament. The suited up 23 players for the game against Fayette County. If they would have driven instead of flown they single handedly could have rescued the auto industry! …

Junior Remi Barry was more involved for American Heritage. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds, punching his status as a Division I prospect. … Winter Park junior post Adam Jones is a rangy, maybe 6-7 power forward with a shot at being a nice mid-level prospect. … Shawn Williams settled for too many 3-point attempts; nine of his 11 shots were behind the arc. When he had it going this summer there was more balance in his game. …

Dexter Fields has the DNA of a scorer and he dropped 20 vs. Westchester. Collegiately, the challenge will be identifying good shots and becoming more efficient. … Dwayne Polee is all arms right now. Was better facing and creating than on the blocks. He seems like he's yet to grow into his body and his game is a bit choppy. Athletically gifted and we'll have to watch as his body matures. …

We've always been partial to James Padgett, mainly due to his ability to own his area. Against Briarcrest he didn't collect the rent. Knowing that he's not getting a lot of dedicated touches, we'd like to see him crash the glass harder. … Gregg Wooten is playing for a scholarship and he's doing so injured. He gutted it out on the court and when we went back in the lockeroom to check on him, he was receiving treatment. In more pain than he let on during the game, you know what he's made of after seeing him fight through it. …

USC's Gib Arnold was in the crowd. He's running the nice weather circuit this month. Twenty four hours ago, Arnold was in Hawaii and somehow managed to get to Florida a day later for late night games! That's humping it! …